Bad Things
by Kaoz
Summary: Carol got the boot and while she could've argued it was the best thing for the group, that she was only doing what needed to be done to protect everyone else ... Rick had been right. It wasn't like they lived in a world where what she'd done had consequences. But a little reunion down the road might be possible. Maybe?
1. Prologue

**Title: ** Bad Things

**Rated for:** T – general grossness, gore, zombie deaths etc.

**Genre:** Horror

**Fandom/Universe:** The Walking Dead

**Characters: ** Carol Peletier, Juan Morales, Miranda Morales, Louis Morales, Eliza Morales / OC's - Waverly Skye, Tenneyson Skye

**Pairings: **

**Spoilers/Warning:**

**Disclaimer:** The Walking Dead and all related characters come from the great mind of Robert Kirkman, then AMC for the TV adaptation/spin off? No infringement intended.

**Summary: ** _Coming home wasn't how they imagined it would be. Home wasn't there anymore. Home was over-run by walking corpses hungry for human flesh. The world ended and the promise of 'family' became something else._

**Status: In-Progress**

**Author's Note: **_I started this because 1. I always wondered what the heck happened to the beaner and his family after they left the group. –If my use of 'beaner' offends anyone, tough. I'm a beaner and proud of it- 2. It doesn't seem like the show is in any hurry to bring back any of the old characters not killed off in previous seasons, well, except for the Governor._

_I'm only planning on 2 or maybe 3 chapters. Short and sweet. _

**Chapter: Prologue**

* * *

Carol drove trying not to let the tears blind her. There was enough already that could kill her without adding her own dangers.

The one thought in her mind was that she was truly alone now. She wasn't welcome at the prison after what she did to Karen but Carol had only been doing what was needed, what had to be done. For everyone's safety. The same as she had been doing in the library with the children. They all had to know how to protect themselves, how to kill.

They couldn't die like Sophia.

...

They lived in silence. It was the only safety afforded to them and even then, silence didn't mean much if one of those things caught sight of them.

She kept her tread light, just like she'd been taught back when birds used to chirps in the trees and they could run in the field, laughing without concern that something would crawl out of the darkness to eat their flesh.

At the top of the stairs, in the window seat, keeping an eye on the street out front of the house sat one of the littlest members of their 4person family. He was looking right at her and only turned back to the window when she nodded. She turned down the hallway past the little guy dropping a granola bar in his lap along with a water bottle. He made a face she caught from the glare in the window.

'_Some things don't change even when corpses are trying to eat you.'_ She shook her head smiling.

The harsh coughs coming from the room at the end of the hall reminded her of their second littlest family member. The little girl burning up with fever and fading by the minute. All she knew of first aid came from her dead Mother- the doctor. But it wasn't enough to save either of them…

"Tenn?" she whispered. She pushed the door open gently, the rug muffling any sound she could've made. The curtains were drawn because the light hurt her eyes and the windows were firmly shut, nailed and locked- one of those safety things they'd been forced to make a habit of.

"It's starting." He looked up at her, the bloody bit of rag he was using to wipe her mouth was soaked.

"The meds-."

"Aren't working on her like they did on the rest of us." Tenneyson cut her off. "Like Mom." He whispered.

Those two words were like ice in her veins. She was shaking her head without realizing, backing out of the room until she was at the front door of the house.

'_He'll be more than an orphan now.'_

They'd both lost their parents, so young and now Louis was losing his sister as well.

'_Way to keep a promise.'_

She grabbed her weapons; a quiver full of arrows, her compound bow and the spare- a going away gift- and the backpack she used for scavenging. That wasn't the point of going out because there was plenty to eat. They were stocked for a good while yet. No, there were a lot of Walkers to put down and Waverly had the energy for a good cleaning.

...

Its was quiet enough Tenneyson heard his sister leave the house. There was one rule; don't go off alone. Just one rule but it didn't seem like a rule Waverly ever felt the need to follow. Yes, they both had the same upbringing. They had the same parents, they travelled the world, they lived in Japan most of their young to teen age lives, they trained with the same master … he was only two years younger but Waverly had taken up the role of 'Mom' even before theirs died. Month of being mothered by two Skye women … _'Right now, I wish Mom was here.'_

Tenneyson stared down at Eliza. She was having trouble breathing, her chest barely rising and the wheezing breath pushing out of her dry lips had him tense. He didn't know if he should get Louis, let them say goodbye… She was the last of his family. He knew Waverly was pissed about this, about Eliza. She promised Morales, she promised their Mother to take care of them, keep them safe …

'_There's nothing safe anymore.'_

And soon it would only be the 3 of them.

Tenneyson placed the wet rag on Eliza's forehead. It was all the comfort they could give her and how much longer would she hold out? An hour? Two? Minutes…?

He sighed, wishing his sister would hurry up, vent and get her ass back to the house because he didn't want to stick an ice pick in Eliza's ear when she died.

...

They moved to a new house the same day Eliza died. Waverly made them and Louis was glad because he didn't want to sleep in the room his sister had died in.

The new house was different. It was on the opposite side of town and they'd had to kill a few Walkers just to get there but there was a wraparound porch on the first floor that served as a deck at the back of the house. The room he picked was at the back with a large window seat where the moon light painted shadows on the rug over the hard wood floors.

Louis couldn't sleep. He could hear them both downstairs, Waverly was quieter than Tenneyson. It was mostly Tenneyson that he heard, just a slight muffled voice but Louis focused on picking out each word because he did not want to sleep.

He wondered where Sophia and her Mom were. If Carl and his Mom had found that doctor with a cure. He wished his Dad hadn't decided they should go off on their own – why couldn't they have stayed with the others? They had been safe…

'_There isn't anywhere safe.'_

Louis didn't want to say it out loud but they were all going to die. It was just a matter of when.

...

Waverly heard it. The shuffle and moan of Walkers on the hunt. She had a second of debate; get back to her brother and their cub, or … indulge curiosity.

"I'm a friggin cat." She muttered under her breath. There was one flash bang in her pack- same as in all of their packs. Its was a limited supply so they were careful not to use them if there was another way out.

"Back!"

Waverly stopped at the corner. She could hear struggling and the Walkers banging on metal- either they were trying to get _in _a car for whoever was trapped inside it, or they were running _into_ the cars in their way of whoever they were trying to eat.

"…Sophia…Uuaah!"

Waverly grabbed the flash bang from the pocket in her pack and slipped it inside her vest. She readied her bow, knocking an arrow and quickly stepped into the middle of the street.

"What… the…?" her surprise didn't last long.

At the end of the street was a woman trying to keep the walkers from breaking into the car she was stuck in. she was using a long spear to jab at the closest ones from out of the sun roof and there was a pile of dead Walkers already around the SUV.

The first arrow was quickly followed by a second and third. By the time Waverly had taken down 6Walkers the woman in the sun roof finally noticed she was getting help. She looked relieved, then confused when Waverly motioned for her to get down. The sight of the flash grenade seemed to do trick because as soon as Waverly pulled the pin the woman ducked into the SUV.

"God, I hope you don't flip out when you hear this go off, Tenney." Waverly tossed it as far as she could, aiming at the house across the street from the SUV. Of course it fell two houses short but it was still enough time for her to duck behind the truck on the opposite side of the street, a little closer to the woman.

The bang left her ears ringing even this far back but it certainly drew the walkers. The problem with using the flash bang is the Walkers all the noise would attract.

Waverly knocked another arrow and quickly made her way towards the SUV on the sidewalk. She took down stragglers- the stubborn ones refusing to go check out the smoke in the yard across the street.

"Out!" she hissed in the loudest whisper Waverly dared. She grabbed the few arrows she could while the Walkers shuffled their decaying bodies away from them. The creak of the back passenger door felt like another grenade to Waverly and she froze, staring at the backs of a dozen Walkers. She didn't breathe, let alone move when two large packs landed on the sidewalk with a muffled thud.

"Christ lady!" Waverly glared, hissing at the salt and pepper haired woman grabbing at her bags with one already on her back. "Silence is _golden_."

"Thank you. I'm Carol-."

"Great." Waverly cut her off. "_Shut up_." She ordered and sharply motioned for her to get a move on into the yard behind them.

Carol clamped her mouth shut, shouldered her bags and moved quickly into the yard. Waverly spotted quite a few arrows but the Walkers were too close to try getting them.

'_Not worth it. Not worth it. Damn it!'_

_..._

Tenneyson made sure the house was secured; there was no way Walkers could get in. Louis was stationed at the second floor window facing the street, watching for Waverly. There was no way they hadn't heard the flash bang go off. They'd only used them one other time before, when Hector sent them ahead and –

"Tenn!"

He turned towards the stairs where Louis skipped the last four, arms swinging and pointing to the door.

"Open! Hurry, open!" Louis ran into the living room. "She's coming!"

"Waves?" he questioned moving to the side door – the one designated as their emergency entrance. The sun blinded him for a second but he blinked, stepping out with his own bow ready.

"Get inside." Waverly ordered is a low voice. She didn't even make a sound coming up the wooden steps, unlike the woman stomping up to the porch. "Go, Tenneyson."

He moved inside as Waverly closed the door behind her. He helped secure it, catching her eyes. The unspoken question was there, Louis hovering in the kitchen entrance waiting to know if they were grabbing gear and running.

Waverly shook her head. "They didn't follow."

Tenneyson nodded, a soft breath of relief his only sign that he was really worried.

"Carol?" Louis' small voice broke through the silence.

Carol straightened, her hand braced on the kitchen island. She squinted, looking at the boy but her eyes kept blurring, stinging with tears. "… Louis…?"

He ran and threw his arms around her waist, shoulders shaking accompanied by muffled sobs. His head was bent awkwardly but Carol held him tightly, crying. She hadn't thought to ever see Louis, or anyone that she knew. The few people left were back at the prison…

"You've met." Waverly dryly waved a hand towards them. She looked at her brother. "Carol. Flash bang." And that was plenty explanation.

...


	2. Come Out Of The Darkness

**Title: ** Bad Things

**Rated for:** T – general grossness, gore, zombie deaths etc.

**Genre:** Horror

**Fandom/Universe:** The Walking Dead

**Characters: ** Carol Peletier, Juan Morales, Miranda Morales, Louis Morales, Eliza Morales / OC's - Waverly Skye, Tenneyson Skye

**Pairings: **

**Spoilers/Warning:**

**Disclaimer:** The Walking Dead and all related characters come from the great mind of Robert Kirkman, then AMC for the TV adaptation/spin off? No infringement intended.

**Summary: ** _Coming home wasn't how they imagined it would be. Home wasn't there anymore. Home was over-run by walking corpses hungry for human flesh. The world ended and the promise of 'family' became something else._

**Status: In-Progress**

**Author's Note: **I'm going AU.

**Chapter: Come Out Of The Darkness**

* * *

_The quiet was not something she was used to, she could see the kids didn't feel at ease either. Her eyes went right to the dark head bent under the hood of the car. She didn't want to make more noise than he was already producing with that wrench. Still, she stuck her head out the window after making sure there was nothing around to take a chunk out of it._

_"Ya mero?" her voice came out a soft whisper. It took him a minute but finally he stood back, eyes on the engine, sweat beading his face and let out a heavy sigh._

_"It needs a new belt." At least he thought that's what the problem was. He walked around to the drivers side, tossed the wrench on the seat and looked at his family. The children were in the back seat, both huddled in the center- as far from the doors and windows as they could get. His wife quickly rolled up her window as far as she could in order to still get a breeze but remain safe. _

_He glanced right, down the road … thinking. _

_"Caminamos." He finally said. He couldn't leave them and walk on his own to the gas station they'd passed a half hour ago. He would never make it back to them before dark; he doubted he'd make it to the gas station before the sun went down. But it was better to go together – he wasn't going to separate his family and risk losing any one of them._

_"A donde?" Miranda demanded using that same low whisper but her eyes made up the intensity she lacked in sound._

_"La estaci__ó__n qu__é__ pasamos hace media hora." He explained moving around to grab a bag for each of them. "S__ólo lo necesario. Regresaremos por lo demas despues."_

.*.

"Capt. Skye found us." Louis sat at the kitchen island, eyes down cast as he remembered that day. Their car had broken down just a few days after they had separated from the main group. "Dad said he could fix it. There was a gas station a few miles back."

Carol rested her hand on his arm, her expression sad. She had wondered many times how the Morales family had fared since leaving them and now she was learning their fate.

"Dad said either way wasn't safe. We couldn't stay in the car- separate. And walking to the gas station wasn't going to be safer but we'd all be together… so we walked." Louis remembers it was dark by the time they got there. Morales had made them wait outside while he checked inside for Walkers. He went in armed with his 'bat'. "Dad always said we needed to use our Mexican ingenuity." He smiled sadly. "He used a pipe."

And the gas station attendant had been dispatched. They'd spent the night barricaded in the rank restroom.

"There was a herd." Louis bent until his forehead touched the quartz. He felt the chills race over his skin and down his back. He couldn't get rid of that feeling- the anxiety of knowing someone would die. He had no family left.

Waverly didn't look away, her face set. She listened to Louis tell Carol what happened, how they were rescued…drifting into her own memory of that afternoon.

_.*._

_She fell. That's what slowed the little family down. And while the man bent down to grab her some of the herd went in for the easy kill._

_"Take them down."_

_She didn't need to be told twice, her arrow found its mark before the words had left her Father's lips. A second and third cleared the closest ones to the couple while her Father ran towards them swinging his ax. _

_The little girl was crying and Waverly turned her attention to the children. The boy hanging on to a pipe shoving her behind him. A couple arrows took care of the immediate threats to them-_

.*.

"I thought it was Darryl." Louis confesses, his dark eyes rising to meet Carol's. "The Capt. was … he used the ax like a sword – sort of." He looked over his shoulder to where Tenneyson snorted a soft laugh.

"Dad had a thing for that ax." He shrugged. "Said it fit in his hands and it wasn't hard to keep the blade sharp plus, it didn't make noise."

Carol nodded agreement. They'd learned quickly not to make noise if they wanted to live at least a few more hours.

"Waverly took down every walker in our way and we ran." Louis sighs, hands clenched in his lap. "They saved us. Took us to their group."

"I wondered if you were all safe." Carol whispered, placing her hand on his arm. "I hoped."

"Safe." Waverly echoed. Her tone didn't convey anything and Carol couldn't decipher the lack of expression on the young woman's face. "It's a relative term."

"Don't get philosophical, Waves." Tenneyson rolls his eyes and steps up behind Louis where he rests his hands on the kids shoulders. "I miss TV." Because all he has now are books and he'd rather leave those to his sister.

_.*._

_They made it to a Wal-Mart warehouse. They were expected and the bay door was quickly rolled up for them to enter and shut behind them. Miranda had been crying silently the entire three hour trip while holding on to Eliza. _

_A small group surrounded the truck as it pulled to a stop and the new-comers stepped out hesitantly. Hector moved around the truck, smiling when he caught sight of Zaila. She was in her scrubs, hands tucked into her pockets. For a moment he could picture himself walking to the front of her hospital while she waited at the doors watching him approach. _

_He missed that smile._

_Waverly jumped out of the back of the truck. The boy helped down by Tenneyson who offered a smile and a pat on the head._

_"He's not a dog, Tenny." Waverly frowned. "Come on." She nodded towards the dispersing group walking towards her parents._

_"You found another set." Zaila smiled, relieved her husband and daughter had returned to her in one piece and safely._

_"I always do, love." Hector placed a kiss on her lips and slid his arm over her shoulders turning to smile at the new family. "This is my wife-."_

_"Zaila Skye." She introduced herself, offering her hand to the adults and a soft smile to the children._

_"Doctor." Hector added. "With a warehouse full of clothes…well, she knows what she likes."_

_"I'm not picky." Zaila shrugs. "As long as it's clean."_

_"You live in a warehouse." Louis notes and quickly realizes he spoke aloud. _

_"It beats the alternative, kid." Tenneyson pops a chip into his mouth from the bag he opened on the short walk to the group. "Want some?" he offers it and waits patiently until Eliza takes a chip, then Louis. "We got more." He looks at the adults, questioning. "I'll take 'em on a tour. Get them some drinks…"_

_"We have the perimeter secured." Hector assures when Miranda tightens her grip on Eliza's shoulders. "Those walkers you saw outside keep scavengers away. There's no danger inside. They'll be safe with my son."_

_"Cross my heart." Tenneyson swears making the motion. It brings a slight smile to Eliza who finds him silly._

_"I'll go with them." Waverly moves to herd them away from the adults. "Let's find some junk food."_

.*.

"The herds came." Louis whispers. That's his worst fear. That another herd will come, it'll take everyone down and this time there wont be any survivors.

Tenneyson flexes his grip on Louis' shoulders. He remembers that too and what he couldn't do to keep his family together.

"My Dad bought our way out." Waverly locks eyes with Carol. "He blew the warehouse. … Himself in it."

Carol is shocked. "I'm… sorry." She couldn't think of anything else because the picture of what that might've looked like was in her head.

"You didn't break the world." Tenneyson shrugs. His usual note of humor is forced and she tries a sort of smile for the levity he's trying to bring into the room.

"She's staying." Louis states. He grabs Carol's hand and turns up to Tenneyson and glances over at Waverly standing by the sink.

Tenneyson just sighs. _'It's like I'm not even here.'_ Because he knows the last word is Waverly's.

"Is she?"

Carol, once again, can't decipher what the young woman is thinking.

"You left them." Waverly crosses her arms and leans back on the counter. "Or they kicked you out." She nods at the bags dropped by the door. "Those aren't just supplies. Its everything you own."

Tenneyson noticed the same thing. They've all learned to pack their lives into a bag- a lesson learned from their Father and re-learned when the world died.

"Why else be out here on your own." Waverly continued when Carol didn't speak.

"My car…" Carol felt her throat close up on the lie, her eyes finding Louis questioning.

"Broke it, did you?" Tenneyson smirks. He shrugs like it's not so unusual let alone a big deal. "Happens a lot now."

"I was trying to get another." Carol explains.

"You know how to hot-wire a car?" Waverly pushes away from the counter and takes two steps closer. "Louis didn't mention that. You are missing something though…"

"Sophia?" Louis turns to Carol, his silent question answered by the negative shake of her head.

Waverly ignores Carol's brimming tears. "Did you leave her?" she doesn't know if Carol had the strength to stick a knife in her own child's head but she certainly hopes Sophia wasn't left out there somewhere, a walking corpse.

Tenneyson throws a sharp glance at his sister but she ignores him. As usual. Instead, he focuses on Carol. "Where are the others of your group?"

"NO." Waverly drops her crossed arms, eyes narrowed and focused on her brother.

"If it's safe-."

"NO." Waverly cuts his off.

"It's a prison." Carol interjects.

"See?" Tenneyson takes that as a positive though he knows it's not going to matter. "Fence? Bars? Why not?"

"Fences come down." Waverly snaps. "You can't get food from a locked cell." Which is what would happen if they somehow got a herd of walkers over running the place. "And you can't grow a vegetable garden in cement."

"Waves…" Tenneyson sighs.

"NO." she is adamant. "No more groups." No more people to get close to. No more ties, no more losing a member to walkers or fever. Just no more loss.

"But… Carol." Louis stands up. "She can stay. Please?"

"…the people… in my group- at the prison. They've gotten sick." She's uncomfortable, too close to the reason Rick told her to leave. "Flu. It-."

"Kills." Waverly finished. The silence lengthened in the kitchen. Carol wondered how they would know about the flu and the results. Waverly deciding if Carol was worth the risk of keeping simply because she's someone that Louis knew from before he lost his family.

"We had it." Tenneyson throws into the silence.

"You?" Carol quickly stands up. Her eyes going from Louis to Waverly and Tenneyson with worry.

"My Mom…" Louis slowly stands up. "Eliza too."

Tenneyson can see the tension in Carol, the way she's looking at them all… "Our Mom." He grabs her attention. "And a few others- most of our group."

"The ones who didn't fall to a walker." Waverly corrects.

"But you…?" Carol backs up one more step, a lot closer to the door and Waverly doesn't miss that.

"No one is forcing you to stay." She nods to the kitchen door they ran in through moments ago. "There's the door."

Because Carol is practically half out the door already, afraid of getting sick when she's seen what the results are. She's survived the past few weeks on her own, no sign of that deadly flu…

"Waverly." Tenneyson warns softly because he can see the hurt ghosting over Louis' face.

"You want the elephant with us?" she demands of her brother. "I mean," she turns to include Louis with her angry stare. "You hear that right?" she hooks a thumb over her shoulder towards Carol who abruptly stops moving around.

Carol hadn't realized how quiet they were or how loud she was. Her boots make too much noise on the hardwood floors. And even Louis seems to have learned to walk softly.

"No to the prison." Waverly states. "No to more people." She looks at Louis. "Teach her silence because we didn't survive a zombie flu to die because of her hoofs."

Tenneyson looks up at the ceiling and sighs as his sister silently storms out of the kitchen. He glances at Carol and offers an apologetic smile. "She's really …"

"Nice?" Carol wonders.

Tenneyson shrugs a shoulder. She had been, nice, at one time. He could remember what his sister had been like before they came 'home' and found it was all dead. But they'd had Mom and Dad so it hadn't felt like the end of the world. Not when they had each other… but Mom and Dad were gone now. It was just the two of them and while Waverly was protective of Louis it still wasn't enough to fill the loss of their parents. Nothing was ever going to make their pain go away.

"Yeah," he agrees. Because before the world died and zombies killed their parents they'd both been 'nice'.

"It's alright." Carol assures. "I understand."

His eyes fall to her feet when she moves towards the door to retrieve her bags. "Silence is golden." He points out when she straightens up. "That's a big deal with us." He smiles. "The spare room is down that hall. Please don't remove the barricades or shades. Oh, no lights. I mean, after sunset. We've got candles set up. Don't knock 'em over please. Don't want to burn down our 'fortress'."

.*.

Up on the roof, Waverly perches in her usual spot bow strung and a full quiver of arrows.

It starts with one. That's all its going to take and she wonders why Tenneyson doesn't realize that. Or maybe he has and doesn't care? She's angry. They'll find a second one and their group will grow to five and then six and then a dozen or more. Too big of a group to go unnoticed, to hide easily. And they'll run out of food faster, have to go searching for sustenance, risk the danger of all that noise. The noise level goes up, personalities clash … fever … its too damn risky.

Tenneyson is all the family she has in this crazy world trying its best to kill them. She's not going to risk loosing him over strangers that can't survive on their own in the new jungle the world has been turned into.

Down the block, Waverly spots a Walker heading into her space.

That's what the arrows were for.

...


End file.
